Facebook Bans Fox Commentator Over Conservative, Christian Content

Popular Fox News commentator Todd Starnes was temporarily kicked off Facebook late last week for some conservative, Christian comments he posted to his fan page.

Popular conservative Fox News commentator Todd Starnes (shown in photo) was banned for a short while by Facebook June 28 and 29 after he posted content the social media site's administrators said violated its community standards. The posting on his Facebook fan page that supposedly earned Starnes a 12-hour sit in the website's penalty box read: “I’m about as politically incorrect as you can get. I’m wearing an NRA ball cap, eating a Chick-fil-A sandwich, reading a Paula Deen cookbook and sipping a 20-ounce sweet tea while sitting in my Cracker Barrel rocking chair with the Gaither Vocal Band singing ‘Jesus Saves’ on the stereo and a Gideon’s Bible in my pocket. Yes sir, I’m politically incorrect and happy as a June bug.”

The Facebook police responded by removing the post and temporarily locking up important features on Starnes' fan page, explaining to him: “We removed this from Facebook because it violates our Community Standards. So you’re temporarily blocked from using this feature.” Starnes noted that he was even banned from posting a daily Bible verse he offers on his Facebook page, a popular feature accessed by thousands of fans.

On his daily Fox commentary site, Starnes wrote, “For the record, I really do have a Cracker Barrel rocking chair, I’m quite fond of sweet tea, I love Chick-fil-A, I’m a huge fan of Southern Gospel music, I own several Paula Deen cookbooks, and I’m a proud member of the National Rifle Association.”

Starnes said that Facebook's perplexing decision to freeze his account prompted him to check out the site's actual “Community Standards,” where he discovered that “among the 'Thou Shalt Nots' were bans on nudity, bullying, harassment, graphic content, pornography, and spam.” Starnes said that to his knowledge he was not guilty of any of the offenses. “I do admit my Facebook page had some spam, though,” he noted. “In my defense, it was a great recipe for a fried spam sandwich (quite tasty I might add).”

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